1 . Starting a band across multiple time zones proved to be tricky. Shaky Wi-Fi and other technical difficulties meant they were often out of sync. And being even half a second off from one another wrecked their sound. To fix this, they created a sort of musical assembly line. Baltimore Paul and Rotterdam Paul wrote and recorded a basic track, then e-mailed it to Manchester Paul.
What does “this” refer to in paragraph three?
| A．The inaccessibility of Wi-Fi. |
| B．The existence of technical barriers. |
| C．Their being in different time zones. |
| D．Their lack of experience. |
2 . How long we stay on the clock and how we spend that time are under careful examination in many workplaces. The young banker who eats lunch at his desk is probably seen as a go-getter, while his colleagues who chat over a relaxed conference-room meal get dirty looks from the corner office. “People from cultures that value relationships more than ours does are shocked by the thought of eating alone in front of a computer”, says Art Markman, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, Austin. Social interaction has been shown to lift mood (情绪) and get people thinking in new directions and in ways that could help improve any post-lunch effort.
The underlined word “go-getter” in paragraph refers to someone who_______.
| A．is good at handling pressure | B．works hard to become successful |
| C．a has a natural talent for his job | D．gets on well with his co-workers |
3 . Allcove provides fully staffed safe spaces for teens and young adults to discuss and deal with their health, both mental and physical. Dr. Steven Adelsheim, a psychiatrist, who created the Allcove in 2014, said, “There is a crying need in the U.S. to reach kids with early intervention and help.” Sometimes a kid may come in with a physical complaint, and only after a few visits is the mental suffering brought out into the open. When that happens, Alcove can make a “warm handoff” to a mental health specialist onsite. Success, say Adelsheim and Cox, would mean the establishment of hundreds of Allcove centers up and down the state and, eventually, around the country.
What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph mean?
| A．The sense of mental suffering. | B．Involvement of health experts. |
| C．Complaints about physical suffering. | D．The pressing call for assistance. |
4 . The position of a bird’s head also plays a role in its hearing abilities. Scientists have determined that noises register at different frequencies on each side of the bird’s head. Depending on the angle from which the noise originates, it registers with a certain frequency in the left eardrum but with a different frequency in the right eardrum. This allows the bird to locate a sound’s origin.
What does the underlined word “This” in paragraph 3 probably refer to?
| A．The angle of noise sources. |
| B．The bird’s unique ear structure. |
| C．The intensity of the sound around the bird. |
| D．The difference in frequencies between the eardrums. |
5 . Transport has a lot to answer for when it comes to harming the planet. While cars and trains are moving towards greener, electric power, emissions from air travel are expected to increase massively by 2050. If we want big green sky solutions, we need blue sky thinking Fortunately, there’s plenty of that happening right now, particularly the short-haul flights powered by batteries.
Harbour Air is the largest seaplane airline in North America, flying 30, 000 commercial flights in 40 seaplanes each year. Significantly, all Harbour Air routes last less than 30 minutes, making it perfectly fit for electric engines. “As an airline, we’re currently in the process of turning all our planes into electric airplanes. says CEO Greg Mc Dougall. To make this happen, the airline has partnered up with MagniX to create the worlds first commercial flight with an electric engine.
Making the skies electric isn’t just good for the environment, it also makes sound financial sense: a small aircraft uses $400 on conventional fuel for a 100-mile flight, while an electric one costs $8-12 for the same distance, and that’s before you factor in the higher maintenance costs of a traditional engine. There’s also the added bonus that electric planes are just much more pleasant to fly in. No loud engine noise, no smell of fuel, just environmentally friendly peace and quiet.
While there has been real progress in the e-plane industry, the technical challenges that remain are keeping everyone’s feet firmly on the ground. A battery, even a lithium one, only provides 250 watt-hours per kilogram; compare this to liquid fuel, which has a specific energy of 11, 890 watt-hours per kilogram. Carrying adequate batteries, however, would make the plane too heavy to get off the ground. In aircraft, where every bit of weight counts, this can’t just be ignored.
The transition (过渡) from gas to electric in the automobile industry has been made easier by hybrids-vehicles powered by both fuel and electricity. Many believe the same pattern could be followed in the air. Fuel consumption could be reduced as the electric component is switched on at key parts of the journey, especially on take-off and landing.
It’s certainly an exciting time for electric flying. With companies like Harbour Air taking the lead, battery-powered planes, especially on short-haul journeys, are set to become a reality in the next few years.
The expression “added bonus” refers to the fact that electric planes___________.
| A．give passengers more pleasant views |
| B．bring airlines more financial benefits |
| C．offer more enjoyable flying experiences |
| D．cost less in maintenance than traditional ones |
6 . French children 15 and under will no longer be allowed to bring smart devices to school. Lawmakers in France voted recently to ban all phones, tablets, and other Internet-connected devices from school grounds. The ban will start in September, “These days, the children don’t play at break time anymore,” Jean-Michel Blanquer, France’s education minister, said. “They are just all in front of their smartphones, and from an educational point of view, that’s a problem. Some strict measures must be taken immediately.” A 2010 law bad already banned smartphones during “all teaching activity” in France. But the new rules say smartphones and tablets are not allowed even during breaks. Students who bring these digital devices to school have to keep them in their backpacks and turned off, If they want to call their parents, schools will help. However, the new law doesn’t forbid students to turn to them during extra-curricular activities. It also makes an exception for disabled students.
Alexis Corbiere is a French politician. He said the effort to make such a law should have been put to something else because teachers have already carried out this rule so far. “I don’t know a single teacher in this country that allows the use of phones in class and in school, ” he told French news channel BFMTV.
How about smartphones in American schools?According to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics, about 66% of public schools banned devices in 2019, which was down from 91% in 2009. Why the change? Liz Kolb, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Education, said that parents are concerned about security in schools. “In the rare case that something may occur, ” she said, “the belief by some parents is that a cell phone could be a useful tool for safety.”
What does the underlined word “them” in paragraph 1 refer to?
| A．Disabled students. |
| B．Digital devices. |
| C．Backpacks. |
| D．Students’ parents. |
7 . That includes huge savings in maintenance costs and better protection of railway personnel safety. It is calculated that European railways alone spend approximately 20 billion euros a year on maintenance, including sending maintenance staff, often at night, to inspect and repair the rail infrastructure. That can be dangerous work that could be avoided with drones assisting the crews’ efforts.
What does “maintenance” underlined in paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．Personnel safety. | B．Assistance from drones. |
| C．Inspection and repair. | D．Construction of infrastructure. |
8 . It’s been less than a month since Arnold, a Texas high school student, was forbidden from going to the prom and graduation unless he cut his locs. As his story spread on social media, celebrities and activists came to Arnold’s defence and encouraged him to stand up to his school’s hair discrimination. Now, in a significant turn of events, he’s proudly wearing his own hair-style at the 2020 Oscars.
Arnold and his mother were invited to attend as the guests of director Matthew A. Cherry, who won the award for Best Animated Short Film for Hair Love tonight. Fittingly, the short film tells the story of a Black father learning to style his daughter’s natural hair.
Arnold told us he couldn’t wait to walk the red carpet with the Hair Love team. “I’m so grateful. I never expected any of this,” Arnold says. “The message of that movie and my message go together so well. I think it’s really amazing how they reached out to me and how we can fight this together.”
What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
| A．Violence. | B．Discrimination. | C．Panic. | D．Starvation. |
9 . Nearly two hundred years later, Leeuwenhoek's discovery of microbes helped French chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur to develop his “theory of disease”. This concept suggested that disease originates from tiny organisms attacking and weakening the body. Pasteur’s theory later helped doctors to fight infectious diseases including anthrax, diphtheria, polio, smallpox, tetanus, and typhoid. All these breakthroughs were the result of Leeuwenhoek's original work. Leeuwenhoek did not foresee this legacy.
The underlined phrase “this legacy” in paragraph 3 refers to_______.
| A．the discovery of microbes. | B．Pasteur's theory of disease. |
| C．Leeuwenhoek's contribution. | D．the origin of the tiny organism. |
10 . Just as a hungry brain craves (渴望) food, a lonely brain craves people. A new brain study demonstrates this. After being left alone, it shows people's brains would be activated at the sight of other people. The action was in the same brain region that speeds up when a hungry person sees food.
Livia Tomova, a neuroscientist, who studies how the brain produces mental activities, and her colleagues began this study. They recruited (招募) 40 people. On one day, the participants had to fast—not eat anything at all—for 10 hours. On another day, the same people were placed in a room for 10 hours. They couldn't see anyone. No friends, no family and no social media. They weren't even allowed to check their email. After both days, Tomova and her colleagues put the people in a MRI machine. It shows activity in the brain by tracking how much blood is flowing to each region.
At the end of each day, the participants showed high activity in a brain area called the midbrain. The scientists were interested in two, small areas within it. Both areas produce dopamine, a chemical that is important in craving and rewards. The two areas activated when hungry participants saw pictures of tasty pizza or juicy hamburgers. After the volunteers had been isolated, those brain areas became active when they saw social activities they missed. It might be playing sports or chatting with friends.
The midbrain plays an important part in people's motivation to seek food or friends. In fact, it responds to food and social signals even when people aren't hungry or lonely. But hunger and loneliness increased the reactions and made people's responses specific to the thing they were missing. And the more hunger or isolation the volunteers said they were experiencing, the stronger the activity in this part of the brain. Tomova and her colleagues published their results November 23 in Nature Neuroscience.
1. How does Tomova test out the result of the study?| A．By stimulating desire. | B．By controlling blood flow. |
| C．By monitoring brain activity. | D．By examining mental activities. |
| A．It consists of two areas. | B．It helps motivate desire for food. |
| C．It stops working when people are full. | D．It decreases responses to lost friends. |
| A．A midbrain area. | B．A social activity. | C．A volunteer. | D．A hamburger. |
| A．Dopamine—a Sure Sign of Age | B．Midbrain—a Nest for the Thoughts |
| C．Hunger Makes Mental Health Struggle | D．Loneliness Makes Our Brains Need People |
